The Transfer Tavern

Unwelcome injury news emerges regarding influential Leeds ace

Leeds United supporters have been pretty dissatisfied in the Transfer Tavern in the last few days after seeing their side only muster a 2-2 draw away at struggling Reading in the Championship on Saturday, thus extending their winless away run to seven matches.

Paul Heckingbottom’s men went into their clash at the Madejski Stadium off the back of successive 3-0 defeats at the hands of Middlesbrough and Wolves, results which all but ended their slim play-off hopes. And the Whites were unable to get back to winning ways in Berkshire on Saturday either, falling behind to Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s 16th minute strike, only to hit back through Pontus Jansson and Pablo Hernandez before an Eunan O’Kane own goal preserved a point for Jaap Stam’s Royals, thus extending Leeds’ winless run on the road to seven games.

Consequently, there have been many dissatisfied Leeds fans in the Tavern in recent times, and their mood is unlikely to be improved by an unwelcome report from The Yorkshire Evening Post, which details an update from Heckingbottom on the fitness of influential defender Liam Cooper.

The 26-year-old made the move to Elland Road back in 2014 and has since gone on to make 120 appearances for the Yorkshire giants, 28 of which coming in their Championship campaign this time round.

However, the Whites skipper came off injured after just 36 minutes in their 3-0 defeat against Wolves last week and as such missed the trip to Reading on Saturday, and it looks like the influential ace could be set for more time on the sidelines, as per Heckingbottom.

He said: ‘Liam’s badly swollen his leg so there’s lots of bleeding but it has come out.

‘Time will tell the size of it but with the lack of mobility I can’t see him training for a while.’

And these comments are likely to frustrate our resident Leeds fans, many of whom are hoping their team can finish the season strongly to take some momentum into the 2018/19 campaign.

Landlord’s verdict: Leeds defender Liam Cooper missed his side’s 2-2 draw with Reading on Saturday after sustaining an injury against Wolves a few days earlier, and it looks like he could be set to spend a little more time on the sidelines.

Defender Pontus Jansson did at least come through the Reading clash without picking up a tenth yellow card of the season, but with some issues defensively this term, this unwelcome update is likely to frustrate our resident Leeds fans given how influential Cooper has been this season.